Saturday, February 22, 2020

NSU Tahlequah 2/21


Field trip!

On Feburary 22nd, I drove from Tulsa through the beautiful hills of Eastern Oklahoma to the NSU Tahlequah campus . 





Once on campus, I made my way over to the John Vaughan library. Compared to Broken Arrow's campus, this library is quite substantial. I met with Ashley Stoddard, Special Collections and Historical Specialist of the library. She gave me a tour of both the archives department and special collections. At Vaughan library, the "archives" section has artifacts and documents obtained by NSU, while special collections pertains mostly to Native America tribes and genealogy. The campus has deep native ties, as it originated in 1851 as Cherokee National Female Seminary before it later became a state school for the training of teachers.

Entrance to the Special Collections



Ashley gave me a brief tour of the archives and special collections before starting on my project.

This is the public room of the special collections where anyone can received assistance looking for records and other historical documents.
A display about the World War II Navajo code talkers
An old map of the Cherokee Nation




One corner of the restricted area where most of the documents are held. This is where I spent most of my day.



This is the "cage" where particularly valuable items are kept under extra lock and key.
Rare and historic tribal items are kept in the cage.

A drying chamber that all items must go in after they have been freeze dried. This process kills off mold. The books and other items are then gently cleaned with isopropyl alcohol before storage.


After the tour, it was time to get started on my project. In special collections, numerous tribal newspapers have been collected and stored over the years. Most of them were in the 1960s - 1990s range, but there were a few earlier dates as well. Ashley wanted me to go through the collection to see if any newspapers in their collection have already been digitized and made available online. Since these newspapers are not terribly old, they wanted to get a better idea of what they could recycle. They have plans to move special collections to a smaller area in the library, and so space is an issue.

Boxes of tribal newspapers


For the next several hours I made a list of the papers, their date range, and whether or not they were available online. I also took note if the Oklahoma historical society had copies on microfilm at their location in Oklahoma City. I have included the list below.

The Hunt begins! Using my internet sleuthing skills to find digitized versions of old newspapers.
 


I enjoyed my work very much. I suppose it was a combination of the quiet of the space, the fascinating history involved, and the the tangibility of the items I was working with that made the project so satisfying. I suspect that, in a perfect world, I would have an archive related job.







Name
Years in Collection
Years Available Online
Paywall?
Link
Cherokee Spirit
1952
NA


Navajo Times
1960-2010
All
No
https://navajotimes.newspaperarchive.com
Akwesane Notes
1975-92,96-97
1969-1987
Some are missing
No
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=akewsasnenotes
American Indian Baptist Voice/ Smoke Signals
1981-90
NA


Lakota Times/ Indian Country Today
1990-2009
2008-2019
No
https://www.lakotacountrytimes.com/archives/
Wassaja
1973-83
NA


Kiowa Indian News
1980-87
NA


Bisknik
1981,1988-2018
2001-2020
No
https://www.choctawnation.com/biskinik-newspaper-archive
Camp Crier
1983-89
NA

On microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Char-Koosta
75-83
NA


CBEP News
1981-84
NA


Cherokee Phoenix/Advocate
1982-2003
NA

On microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Cherokee Observer
1993-2003, one issue 2007
NA

On microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Cherokee Nation News
1968-69
NA

On microfilm at: https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Cherokee Nation Newsletter
1967-68
NA

On microfilm from March 1968 onward. https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Native American Times/Oklahoma Indian Times
1995-2012
2009-2014
No
On microfilm from 2001-2012 at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Historia
1913-21
NA


Indian Baptist Awakener
1969-80
NA


Indian Leader
1986-88
NA


Cherokee One Feather
1971-2011
May 2011-

https://www.theonefeather.com/category/back-issues
Chickasaw Times
1975-2009
2004-

http://www.chickasawtimes.net/Archived-E-Editions.aspx
Choctaw Times
1974-75
NA


Cookson Hills Christian Schools
1958-1992
NA


This Week Indian Country Today
2011-2013
Website archives page error


Indian Trader
1980-2011
NA


Gah-Yah Tont
2006-2011
2002-present
No
http://www.ganyahde.com/repository.html
Delaware Indian News
1987-2004
NA


Kui Tatk
1984-87
NA


Medicine Bundle
1976-83
1976 onward
Yes
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/11046035
Oio News/ Oio Journal
1977-85
NA


Oklahoma Heritage
1974-79
NA


Seminole Campfire
1976
NA

On microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
The Tahlequah American
1983-85
NA


Tahlequah Green Country Neighbors
1989-93
NA


Tahlequah Daily Times Journal
1994-2000
NA

94-95 on microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Twin Territories
1990-2001
NA

On microfilm at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Tulsa Indian News
1974-76
NA

On microfilm from 74-79 at John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick Research Center:
 https://www.okhistory.org/research/newspholdings.php?id=44
Tushka Homman
1935-36
NA


United Keetowah Band UKB News
1991-95, 2009-2013
NA


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